A Cluster of Acute Diarrhea Suspected to Be Cholera in French Travelers in Haiti, December 2010

Rachel Haus-Cheymol (1) , Rafäelle Theodose (2) , Marie-Laure Quilici (3) , Gérard Chevallier (4) , Bernard Liautaud (5) , Fathi Ktari (6) , Joseph Garcia (7) , Franck de Laval (1) , René Migliani (1)

1 Centre d'épidémiologie et de santé publique des armées
2 Laboratoire de microbiologie
3 CNR - Centre National de Référence des Vibrions et du Choléra - National Reference Center Vibrios and Cholera
4 Embassy of France
5 Service des Maladies Infectieuses
6 SAMU
7 Medical Service of French Police Force

A cluster of 21 cases of watery diarrhea suspected to be cholera that involved French military policemen and young volunteers occurring in the context of the Haiti cholera outbreak is described. The attack rate (AR) was higher among young volunteers (71.4%) than among policemen (15.3%) (p < 0.0001). There was a significant association between raw vegetables consumption and watery diarrhea in the young volunteer group. If we consider the raw vegetables consumers only, AR was lower among doxycycline-exposed subjects (relative risk: 0.2; 95% confidence interval: 0.1–0.4). The main aspect that is of scientific interest is the potential prophylactic effect of doxycycline used for malaria prophylaxis on the watery diarrhea AR.

Domaines: Santé publique et épidémiologie; Bactériologie

Rachel Haus-Cheymol, Rafäelle Theodose, Marie-Laure Quilici, Gérard Chevallier, Bernard Liautaud, et al.. A Cluster of Acute Diarrhea Suspected to Be Cholera in French Travelers in Haiti, December 2010. Journal of Travel Medicine, 2012, 19 (3), pp.189-91. ⟨10.1111/j.1708-8305.2012.00607.x⟩. ⟨pasteur-01135860⟩